Tag: crazy love

The following is taken from Crazy Love by Francis Chan pages 62-63. Take a moment to look over it and examine heart:

If someone asked you what the greatest good on this earth is, what would you say? An epic surf session? Financial security? Health? Meaningful, trustful friendships? Intimacy with your spouse? Knowing that you belong?

The greatest good on this earth is God. Period. God’s one goal for us is Himself (emphasis mine).

The Good News – the best news in the world, in fact – is that you can have God Himself. Do you believe that God is the greatest thing you can experience in the whole world? Do you believe that the Good News is note merely the forgiveness of your sins, the guarantee that you won’t go to hell, or the promise of life in heaven?

The best things in life are gifts from the One who steadfastly loves us. But an important question to ask ourselves is this: Are we in love with God or just His stuff?

Imagine how awful it would feel to have your child say to you, “I don’t really love you or want your love, but I would like my allowance, please.” Conversely, what a beautiful gift it is to have the one you love look you in the eye and say, “I love you. Not your beauty, your money, your family, or your car. Just you.”

Can you say that to God?

Our love for Him always come out of His love for us. Do you love this God who is everything, or do you just love everything He gives you? Do you really know and believe that God loves you, individually and personally and intimately? Do you see and know Him as Abba, Father?

Like this:

I picked up a copy of Francis Chan’s book, Crazy Love yesterday and I am very impressed with it. Here is the blurb on the back of the book:

Crazy Love: Overwhelmed By A Relentless God

God is love: crazy, relentless, all-powerful love.

Have you ever wondered if we’re missing it?

It’s crazy, if you think about it. The God of the universe – the Creator of nitrogen and pine needles, galaxies and E-minor – loves us with a radical, unconditional, self-sacrificing love. And what is our typical response? We go to church, sing songs, and try not to cuss.

Does something deep inside your heart long to break free from the status quo? Are you hungry for an authentic faith that addresses the problems of our world with tangible, even radical, solutions? God is calling you to a passionate love relationship with Himself. Because the answer to religious complacency isn’t working harder at a list of do’s and don’ts – its falling in love with God. And once you encounter His love, as Francis describe it, you will never be the same.

Because when you’re wildly in love with someone, it changes everything.

Here is Francis Chan’s own stated reason for writing this book:

I hope reading this book will convince you of something: that by surrendering yourself totally to God’s purposes, He will bring you the most pleasure in this life and the next. I hope it affirms your desire for “more God” – even if you’re surrounded by people who feel they have “enough God.” I hope it inspires confidence if you have questioned and doubted the commitment of the American church [Don’t get to alarmed by this statement, Chan loves and affirms the value of the church]. I want to affirm your questioning, even while assuring you there is hope (Preface, 21).

Later Francis Chan nails the fundamental problem with many Christians and churches today right on the head when he says:

But before we look at what is wrong and address it, we need to understand something. The core problem isn’t the fact that we’re lukewarm, halfhearted, or stagnant Christians. The crux of it all is why we are this way, and it is because we have an inaccurate view of God. We see Him as a benevolent Being who is satisfied when people manage to fit Him into their lives in some small way. We forget that God never had an identity crisis. He knows that He’s great and deserves to be the center of our lives. Jesus came humbly as a servant, but he never begs us to give Him some small part of ourselves. He commands everything from His followers (Preface, 22).